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John Wells (satirist)
John Campbell Wells (17 November 1936 – 11 January 1998) was an English actor, writer and satirist. Early life The son of a cleric, Wells was born in Ashford, Kent, in 1936. He was educated at Eastbourne College and St Edmund Hall, Oxford. Career Wells started in cabaret at Oxford and began his television career as a writer on ''That Was The Week That Was'', the 1960s weekly satire show that launched the careers of David Frost and Millicent Martin, among others, and also appeared in the television programme '' Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life'', as well as in '' The Secret Policeman's Other Ball''. Besides making cameo appearances in films such as '' Casino Royale'' (1967) and '' Rentadick'' (1972), television dramas like ''Casanova'' (1987), an episode of '' Lovejoy'' (1991) and comedy shows like ''Yes Minister'', he also wrote television scripts and screenplays, such as ''Princess Caraboo'' (1994). In 1971, with John Fortune, he published the comedy classic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Open Media
Open Media is a British television production company, best known for the discussion series '' After Dark'', described in the national press as "the most original programme on television". The company was founded in 1987 and has produced more than 400 hours of television for major UK broadcasters, including the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. It has made entertainment series and factual specials which have sold all over the world. It also produces communications and corporate media for some of Britain's most important businesses. Open Media programmes have been nominated for many awards by the Royal Television Society and the British Academy BAFTA. Two different Open Media productions were featured during the 25th anniversary of Channel 4 in autumn 2007: '' The Secret Cabaret'' and '' After Dark'' were shown again on More4 during the celebratory season. In 2009 the British Film Institute announced that Open Media, in partnership with The National Archives, the Parliamentary Broadca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Fortune
John Fortune (born John C. Wood; 30 June 1939 – 31 December 2013) was an English satirist, comedian, writer, and actor, best known for his work with John Bird and Rory Bremner on the TV series '' Bremner, Bird and Fortune''. Early life Fortune was born John Wood in Bristol in 1939. He was educated at Bristol Cathedral School and King's College, Cambridge, where he was to meet and form a lasting friendship with John Bird. He was a member of the semi-secretive Cambridge Apostles society, a debating club largely reserved for the brightest students. Career Fortune's early work included contributions to Peter Cook's Establishment Club team in 1962, and as a regular member of the cast of the BBC-TV satire show '' Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life'', both alongside Eleanor Bron and John Bird. Fortune and Bird also worked together on the TV show ''A Series of Birds'' in 1967, and Fortune and Bron wrote and performed a series of sketches for TV in '' Where Was Spring? ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
For Your Eyes Only (film)
''For Your Eyes Only'' is a 1981 spy film directed by John Glen (in his feature directorial debut) and produced by Albert R. Broccoli. The film stars Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond, and co-stars Carole Bouquet, Chaim Topol, Lynn-Holly Johnson, and Julian Glover. The twelfth film in the ''James Bond'' franchise produced by Eon Productions, ''For Your Eyes Only'' was written by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson, based on two Ian Fleming short stories " For Your Eyes Only" and " Risico". In the plot, Bond attempts to locate a missile command system while becoming tangled in a web of deception spun by rival Greek businessmen along with Melina Havelock, a woman seeking to avenge the murder of her parents. Some writing elements were inspired by the novels '' Live and Let Die'', '' Goldfinger'', and '' On Her Majesty's Secret Service''. After the science fiction-focused '' Moonraker'', the producers wanted a return to the style of the early Bond films and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anyone For Denis? (TV Version)
''Anyone for Denis?'' is a British video-taped television version of the stage play of the same name broadcast by the ITV network on 28 December 1982. The original play, first performed at the Whitehall Theatre in 1981, was written by satirist John Wells. It is based on ''Private Eye'''s 'Dear Bill' letters, purportedly written by Denis Thatcher, the husband of Margaret Thatcher, the prime minister at the time. Set in Chequers, the play parodies the couple's relationship. The title is a punning reference to the more familiar question " Anyone for tennis?" The television production, for Thames Television was directed by Dick Clement and stars John Wells, Angela Thorne, John Cater and Nicky Henson. Cast * John Wells ... Denis Thatcher * Angela Thorne ... Margaret Thatcher * John Cater ... Maurice Picarda * Nicky Henson ... Vouvrey * Mark Kingston ... Hamilton Thisp * Roy Kinnear ... Boris * Alfred Molina ... Eric * John Nettleton ... Jenkins * Terence Rigby ... Major * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Angela Thorne
Angela Margaret Leslie Thorne (born 25 January 1939) is an English actress of stage, television and film who is best known for her roles in ''To the Manor Born'', as Audrey fforbes-Hamilton's best friend Marjory Frobisher, and as Margaret Thatcher in '' Anyone for Denis?'' Early life Angela Thorne was born in Karachi, British India, in 1939. The daughter of an Indian Army doctor father, William Herbert Alfred Thorne, and a teacher mother, Sylvia (Leslie), she spent the first five years of her life in India. BBC - ''Who Do You Think You Are? (British TV series)'', 16 August 2010 She was later a pupil at Farlington School in Horsham, West Sussex. She trained for the stage at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Her marriage to television actor Peter Penry-Jones lasted from 22 September 1967 until his death in 2009. They had two sons, Laurence and Rupert, both actors. In the BBC programme '' Who Do You Think You Are?'' featuring son Rupert, broadcast in August 2010, it w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Deedes
William Francis Deedes, Baron Deedes, (1 June 1913 – 17 August 2007) was a British Conservative politician, army officer and journalist. He was the first person in Britain to have been both a member of the Cabinet and the editor of a major daily newspaper, ''The Daily Telegraph''. Early life and career Deedes was the second child and only son of landowner Herbert William Deedes and his wife Melesina Gladys, daughter of Philip Francis Chenevix Trench. His younger sister Margaret Melesina married the 21st Baron FitzWalter. He was brought up in the family home of Saltwood Castle until it was sold in 1925. He was educated at Harrow until after his father suffered heavy financial losses from the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Deedes was forced to leave school a year early and finish his exams with a tutor. Denied a university career, Deedes began his career as a reporter on the ''Morning Post'' in 1931, joining ''The Daily Telegraph'' when it took over the ''Post'' in 1937. Between 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime minister and the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century. As prime minister, she implemented economic policies that became known as Thatcherism. A Soviet journalist dubbed her the "Iron Lady", a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. Thatcher studied chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford, and worked briefly as a research chemist, before becoming a barrister. She was elected Member of Parliament for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his 1970–1974 government. In 1975, she defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election to become Leader of the Opposition, the first woman to lead a major poli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Denis Thatcher
Sir Denis Thatcher, 1st Baronet, (10 May 1915 – 26 June 2003) was an English businessman and the husband of Margaret Thatcher, who served as the first female British prime minister from 1979 to 1990; in turn, he became the first male prime ministerial spouse. Thatcher was granted the Thatcher baronetcy in 1990, the only baronetcy created since 1964, and remains the most recent commoner to have been awarded a hereditary title. Early life Denis Thatcher was born on 10 May 1915 at 26 Southbrook Road, Lee, Lewisham, London, as the first child of New Zealand-born British businessman Thomas Herbert "Jack" Thatcher (15 October 1885 – 24 June 1943) and Lilian Kathleen Bird At age eight, Denis entered a preparatory school as a boarder in Bognor Regis, following which he attended the nonconformist public school Mill Hill School in north London. At school he excelled at cricket, being a left-handed batsman. Thatcher left Mill Hill School in 1933 and joined the family pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Ingrams
Richard Reid Ingrams (born 19 August 1937 in Chelsea, London) is an English journalist, a co-founder and second editor of the British satirical magazine '' Private Eye'', and founding editor of '' The Oldie'' magazine. He left the latter job at the end of May 2014.Ben Quin"Richard Ingrams resigns as editor of the Oldie over dispute with publisher" ''The Guardian'', 31 May 2014 Early life and education Ingrams's parents, who had three other sons including the banker and opera impresario Leonard Ingrams, were Leonard St Clair Ingrams (1900–1953), O.B.E., an investment banker from a clergy family, who worked as a government official in propaganda, economic warfare and the secret services during World War II, and Victoria, the daughter of Sir James Reid, private physician to Queen Victoria. Through his maternal grandmother and her ties to the Baring family, Ingrams is a direct descendant of the 19th-century prime minister Earl Grey. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dear Bill
The "Dear Bill" letters were a regular feature in the British satirical magazine ''Private Eye'', purporting to be the private correspondence of Denis Thatcher, husband of the then-Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. It was written by Richard Ingrams and John Wells, and illustrated with sketches by George Adamson for the first five years, and subsequently by Brian Bagnall. The series took the form of fortnightly letters to "Bill" by his friend and golfing partner "Denis". The letters were split equally between reactionary grumblings about the state of the country and vituperative comments on contemporary politics, with regular passing references to the goings-on of a fictional collection of acquaintances and the consumption of a quite remarkable quantity of "electric soup". "Bill", whilst never identified as such in the series, was often taken as being Denis Thatcher's close friend Bill Deedes; Deedes later titled his autobiography ''Dear Bill: a memoir''. The series ran thro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He was the Leader of the Labour Party from 1963 to 1976, and was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1983. Wilson is the only Labour leader to have formed administrations following four general elections. Born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, to a politically active middle-class family, Wilson won a scholarship to attend Royds Hall Grammar School and went on to study modern history at Jesus College, Oxford. He was later an economic history lecturer at New College, Oxford, and a research fellow at University College, Oxford. Elected to Parliament in 1945 for the seat of Ormskirk, Wilson was immediately appointed to the Attlee government as a Parliamentary Secretary; he became Secretary for Overseas Trade in 1947, and was elevated t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mrs Wilson's Diary
Prime Minister parodies are a long-running feature of the British satirical magazine ''Private Eye'', which have been included in the majority of issues since the magazine's inception. The parodies consist of one arch satirical personification of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of the day, and use that personification to send up continuously that Prime Minister's personality and style of leadership, and the personalities and general features of his or her cabinet. Such are their popularity that the parodies usually find their way into mainstream culture far beyond simply being viewed as a joke within the pages of ''Private Eye'', and are subsequently mentioned often in other journalistic appraisals of the individual in question. List by prime minister Harold Wilson: Mrs. Wilson's Diary ''Mrs Wilson's Diary'' was the imaginary diary of Prime Minister Harold Wilson's wife Mary, in the style of the BBC radio serial '' Mrs Dale's Diary''. Written primarily by John Wells with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
